Great Red inclined her head toward Takeyo, her ancient gaze reflecting an understanding that transcended mortal comprehension.
She'd been eager to pass this burden to him from the start. When he proposed his plan, she agreed without hesitation.
"He... is a qualified person."
The Great Red Dragon God Emperor's voice resonated across heaven and earth, carrying with it the weight of divine authority.
The gathered gods fell silent. Even the mightiest among them lost their courage to speak.
What could they possibly say? When the God of the Bible had given her approval, that was one matter, after all, back when she'd been at the height of her power, many mythologies had banded together against her overwhelming influence.
But now it wasn't just the God of the Bible. Two Dragon Gods who stood above even her were backing Takeyo. Ophis and Great Red, the twin pillars of ultimate power.
And Takeyo himself possessed the strength to effortlessly restrain Trihexa, the Beast of Apocalypse!
"Actually, I've gathered everyone here today to sign a covenant." Takeyo's voice cut through the silence. "This is to ensure that no one will sabotage each other during the battle against the ExE world."
Unsurprisingly, no one voiced objections, at least, not openly. At this point, with Takeyo's power far surpassing theirs, dissent would be suicide.
Following his words, a golden contract materialized before each transcendent god.
The power of Mishra, binding and absolute!
"Gods' Covenant?"
Indra's eye twitched as he examined the golden contract that had appeared in his hand.
"Article One: When participating in the confrontation against the ExE world, all gods shall maintain a state of peace. Any god who attacks another shall have their soul judged by the contract."
That article received universal acceptance. Everyone gathered here wanted an alliance anyway, they'd only been fighting over who would lead and command.
"Article Fourteen, Subsection Two: During the confrontation with the ExE world, all deployed forces must follow Takeyo's commands unless doing so would seriously violate one's own fundamental interests."
This clause sparked immediate dissatisfaction among most gods.
What did "following his commands" really mean? How broad was this authority?
"If anyone has objections, you're welcome to discuss them with me." Takeyo's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Of course, such discussions require meeting a certain threshold."
Many gods perked up, eager to challenge the clause. Perhaps negotiations were still possible?
Then Takeyo's next words crushed their hopes.
"As long as you can handle both Trihexa and Rizevim, we can have a pleasant discussion~"
His meaning couldn't have been clearer: Do you even have the qualifications to negotiate with me?
"Ahem..." Zeus cleared his throat awkwardly. "Article Three, during the fight against the ExE world, all underworld systems of the various pantheons shall cease reincarnation operations?"
When the gathered gods heard this, they understood Takeyo's stance. Though difficult to accept, it would be tolerable if limited to the duration of the ExE conflict.
As for the permanent closure of all underworld systems mentioned later...
"The Hades of our pantheon, along with our highest god of death, were they killed by you, Lord Takeyo?" Zeus's frown deepened.
Previously, they'd been searching for whoever could have slain Hades so efficiently. Now there were four prime suspects right in front of him: Great Red, Ophis, the God of the Bible, and Takeyo.
"The one who dismantled that skeleton... was me..."
Ophis's voice was barely audible, but everyone who heard it felt their blood run cold.
The Infinite Dragon God had killed Hades?
Though it sounded strange at first, the more they thought about it, the more it made sense. Takeyo wouldn't be so tasteless as to use Death and Hades's bones for jigsaw puzzles, but Ophis? She absolutely would do something like that without a second thought.
"Actually, this arrangement benefits all of you."
Takeyo gestured toward additional clauses. The gods would see the advantages when they reviewed the full terms.
"This thing is..."
As most gods read the benefits section, expressions of genuine interest appeared on their faces. Then, after thinking it through more carefully, their faces grew serious again.
Half an hour later, despite lingering reservations, every god signed the covenant.
All transcendent-level deities affixed their signatures. For pantheons without transcendent-tier representatives, their main gods or strongest combatants signed on behalf of their faction.
This was a contract that truly bound the gods, living up to its name!
The final clause served as a guarantee: any gods who failed to fulfill the contract would face enforcement by Great Red, Ophis, and Takeyo together.
Of course, that last point was mostly for show, something reassuring for the gods to see.
With Takeyo's current mastery of contract power, the covenant he'd forged was absolutely binding on these deities regardless.
Most gods didn't take the contract too seriously. After all, the harsh conditions only applied during the war against the ExE world. Being somewhat restricted during wartime was perfectly normal.
If they won, everyone would divide the spoils. If they lost despite this grand alliance, it would simply prove that their side's combat effectiveness truly was inferior to the enemy's. There'd be no one to blame but themselves.
For powerful pantheons, signing the contract represented constraint. But for weaker mythologies, it offered protection.
After all, according to Takeyo's strategy, everyone's losses would be minimized.
On Takeyo's end, he heard the system's voice immediately after the contract signings concluded.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the host for triggering a plot check-in! Sign-in level: King!]
[Sign-in plot: End of the Evil Gods!]
[Plot: Destroy all existences above the Second Dragon God level in the ExE world!]
[Sign-in time limit: 1 year]
[Sign-in remaining time: 1 year]
"A King-level sign-in after so long, I wonder what good rewards I'll get,"
Takeyo sighed contentedly before annihilating Rizevim's puppet body with a casual blast of power.
As for Trihexa? The Beast King was essentially a walking bomb anyway. Better to drop it into the ExE world as a self-destructing unit than to waste effort destroying it completely.
Since acquiring the god-level sign-in system, he'd only drawn two King-level check-ins.
One had granted him the Ten Incarnations, and the other had given him the Origin of Humanity's Bloodline. Both had become fundamental pillars of his power.
Now he had two King-level sign-ins at once. The anticipation was almost overwhelming.
Several months later.
The ExE world could no longer maintain stability. Having thoroughly suppressed the benevolent gods' faction, they now possessed ample forces to deploy troops to other worlds.
That test subject absolutely needed to be captured!
Just as their army prepared to mobilize, an astonishing aura erupted from the direction of the DxD world!
Ten magnificent incarnations radiated terrifying power from that distant planet!
Though reluctant to admit it, every single one had reached Dragon God level!
A majestic fish, a lion-faced deity radiating both divinity and bestial power, a warrior wielding a golden bow, a white horse burning with the flames of salvation...
The malevolent god Melvazoa was certain, this was the test subject they needed!
Despite those incarnations reaching Dragon God level, they showed no signs of retreating.
Because on their side, the evil god Melvazoa, the fierce god Regalzeva, and the demon god Seraselbes all stood two full levels beyond Dragon God tier.
In theory, any one of them could fight all those incarnations. Two could defeat them entirely!
"Go!"
Their situation and the DxD world presented stark contrast, two completely different painting styles.
On the ExE side, endless warships and mechanical equipment filled the void. On the DxD world's side, the scene was entirely different.
"Hah!"
Takeyo withdrew his incarnations.
Another few months had passed, and he'd calculated that the timing was right. These forces were ready to move against him.
He'd deliberately hyped this confrontation into a worldwide crisis, and all the strong had participated in fighting what they believed was an existential threat.
Technically, it wasn't all exaggeration. The previous encounter had taught the evil gods that he wasn't the kind of target that could be easily caught.
This time they wanted to bring overwhelming force, but it wouldn't be worth it for just one rare test subject.
So they'd simply decided to conquer this world entirely.
They weren't without experience conquering other planets, after all.
Takeyo had never believed he was a good person. Most of his actions definitely weren't benevolent by any objective measure.
Invasion and being invaded were simply matters of the strong and the weak. He understood this.
So he had no intention of holding back.
Since the enemy harbored great malice toward him, how could he fail to return that malice a thousandfold?
"All gods, battle stations."
The God of the Bible smiled as she helped Takeyo adjust his collar.
Her height posed a slight challenge for the task, but for her, such trivialities were easily overcome.
"Alright, let's wait for them to arrive~"
Takeyo smiled faintly. He'd just been using his own power without resorting to the God's assistance.
Over the past few months, his personal cultivation had reached the peak of Ultimate-Class Devil. His most primitive physical attributes could now crush most transcendent-tier beings.
The ultra-limit incarnations he'd just deployed operated at Dragon God level.
Of course, he'd deliberately shown weakness to bait the enemy. If he'd truly used the ultra-limit incarnations at full strength, they'd possess peak Dragon God-level power, and the ExE forces genuinely might not dare to engage.
"Mountains and Rivers State Painting!"
In Takeyo's hands, a massive scroll gradually unfurled. Among the vast and magnificent landscapes depicted within, countless sacred beasts radiating holy light emerged!
All of them were sacred beasts designed specifically to counter mechanical lifeforms, the fruits of Takeyo's research!
Here, even Ultimate-Class-level sacred beasts could only serve as the lowest-tier creep!
Devil King-tier beasts could barely serve as squad leaders.
The most powerful were dozens of transcendent-level sacred beasts and several Sub-Dragon God-tier beasts. These were the formidable war weapons that Takeyo and the God had expended considerable energy creating during this period.
The sacred beast army was massive. Most Devil King-level and weaker beasts were distributed to the periphery of each pantheon's territory.
Their core mission: protect the safety of the central formation!
That's right, the grand formation.
Though these formations also possessed defensive capabilities, gathering all their power for maximum effect required the sacred beasts and lesser gods to handle protection duties.
Besides, with the underworlds of all mythologies now open, any lost combat power could be replenished in the shortest possible time!
Everything existed for the core formation!
Within these grand arrays, all the gods poured their power!
Underworld, Heaven, Takamagahara, India, Northern Europe, Celtic, Egypt, Greece, Persia... and countless others.
Beneath their feet stretched formations that Takeyo had created by absorbing nearly all magical knowledge in this world, the Great Formation of the Underworld and the Great Formation of the Heavens!
Unlike before, when Takeyo had operated the Underworld Formation alone, this version required numerous powerful beings to assist in its operation.
Though one person could activate it and easily access the formation's power, having a large number of strong participants could unleash two hundred percent of its potential!
The formation that had absorbed the power of endless gods and buddhas redistributed that energy wherever it was needed!
"Schwi, there shouldn't be any problems handling these forces, right?"
By Takeyo's side, countless streams of data flashed through Schwi's eyes as she managed all the magical circle energy inputs into Takeyo's body!
This was originally something Takeyo needed to do himself, but now that he had other matters to handle, being able to retain more computational power was naturally beneficial.
"Mmm!"
"They should arrive soon~"
Takeyo gazed into the endless starry sky. Countless spaceships carrying powerful energy sources were rapidly advancing toward the DxD world.